One or more aspects relate in general to electronic devices, and in particular, to remotely awakening an electronic device.
Electrically powered devices that respond to remote control transmitters generally consume standby power when the devices are off. Standby power is power consumed by an electrically powered device when the device is not in use but is still consuming power from a source of power. In operation, a remote control transmitter supplies a signal to an energized on-off circuit in these devices to cause them to switch from a standby mode to a normal operation mode. The device also draws power to enable the on-off circuit to act upon a remote signal to enable it to shift to a normal operation mode. This power consumption generally is between one and ten Watts per device. However, when the power consumption is aggregated among the many remotely controlled electrical devices in use in a region or country, the amount of power consumed becomes significant. Demands for power consumption are currently increasing; however, available natural power is decreasing. Therefore, there is a general trend to invent new technologies to save the power.
After each usage of such standby devices, users usually turn off the devices via remote controls. Being turned off by the remote controls, the electric devices enter their standby mode, which, in turn, allows the devices to continue consuming some electric power. This is due to the fact that the standby mode requires some electric power to run sensor circuits that continuously await instructions from the remote controllers to turn the devices back on.
Great efforts have been undertaken to reduce the standby power of electronic devices because in the course of global warming energy consumption of a country is a strategic subject. Yet the standby power consumption of remotely controlled devices has not been totally eliminated. Efforts to reduce this wasted power have not been completely successful. Some systems now consume less than a watt instead of several watts but still consume some power.
US 2011/0140545 A1, hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses a remote activation system for electrically powered devices that uses remotely transmitted electromagnetic radiation power to completely energize on-off circuitry in remotely activated devices with no standby power consumed to maintain remote activation capability. As a result, the electrically powered device is still readily activated by a remote means but does not consume any power to enable it to be remotely activated. The system comprises a remote electromagnetic radiation transmitter able to transmit radiation having sufficient power to enable the change in state of an electrical switch. The system also comprises an electrical activation element that is electrically attached to both the on-off circuit of an electrically powered device and a source of power to permit normal operation of the device. The activation element comprises a first electromagnetic radiation power converter able to convert electromagnetic radiation power into electrical power. It also comprises a first electrically operated normally non-conducting switch that is between a source of power for the device and its on-off circuit. The electrically powered device does not draw any power from any source to maintain its ability to be remotely turned on either to power the converter until it receives a remote transmission or to monitor the status of the converter. In addition, the switch has a non-conducting state when the electrically powered device is turned off.